NEW ULSTER BANK NOTES: Patricia’s iconic images of the Irish hare and brent geese feature on the new £5 and £10 notes that came into circulation February 2019. Read more…

 

The Royal Bank of Scotland have used Patricia’s images of the Irish hare and brent geese for Ulster Bank’s new £5 and £10 notes that came into circulation 27 February 2019. Also featuring is her image of Clydesdale horses and ploughing.

The theme of the new notes is Living in Nature and both notes have vertical designs.

The light-bellied brent geese that make the trip to Northern Ireland from Arctic Canada every year with huge populations arriving in Strangford Lough appear on both the obverse (front) and reverse (back) of the £5 note. On the front the brent are depicted arriving, flying above a transparent image of Strangford Lough; on the back a group departs in springtime for their breeding grounds in the Arctic, flying in the opposite direction. Their coming and going reflects the movement of people and animals. The £5 note also features a fuchsia plant and the Cryptic Wood White butterfly (a species endemic to Northern Ireland) on its front. A geometric pattern inspired by the markings in ancient sandstone as well as a family at the beach and a shellfish (a nod to the country’s fishing industry) feature on the reverse.

The Irish hare, found only on the island of Ireland and thought to have continuously inhabited the island since before the Ice Age is on both sides of the £10 note. On the front of the note the hare makes its way across the landscape, whilst on the back it sits above a transparent image of Lower Lough Erne. Characteristic small fields, Clydesdale horses (used on farms across Ireland to power the tilling of land), ploughing and patterns of fossilised coral also feature on the back of this note that celebrates agriculture and heritage. A Guelder-Rose (a Northern Irish shrub) is shown on the front.

The new £5 and £10 notes were revealed at a press conference last year.

Ulster Bank says the £5 note “focuses on Northern Ireland as a place that people pass through and visit, highlighting the importance of the sea and migration” while the £10 note is focused on agriculture and heritage.